Cheat Sheet

Gardening Basics For Dummies

To have the garden of your dreams, make sure you pick the right plants for your hardiness zone and select the right fertilizers for your plants. If your garden is shady, this Cheat Sheet offers a list of plants made for the shade. When you're planning and measuring your garden use the handy conversion chart for metric and standard measurements.

Gardening by USDA Plant Hardiness Zones

When choosing plants for your garden, select the plants best suited to your climate. Know your USDA hardiness zone and use this chart to determine the time and length of your growing season.

Zone

Minimum Temperature
(°F/°C)

Last Frost Date

First Frost Date

Typical Number of
Frost-Free Days

1

Below –50°F
Below –46°C

June 15

July 15

30

2

–50°F to –40°F
–46°C to –40°C

May 15

August 15

90

3

–40°F to –30°F
–40°C to –34°C

May 15

September 15

120

4

–30F to –20F
–34° to –29°C

May 10

September 15

125

5

–20°F to –10°F
–29°C to –23°C

April 30

October 15

165

6

–10°F to 0°F
–23°C to –18°C

April 15

October 15

180

7

0°F to 10°F
–23°C to –12°C

April 15

October 15

180

8

10°F to 20°F
–12°C to –7°C

March 10

November 15

245

9

20°F to 30°F
–7°C to –1°C

February 15

December 15

265

10

30°F to 40°F
–1°C to 4°C

January 20

December 20

335

11

40°F and up
4°C and up

Frost free

Frost free

365

Gardening with Plants Made for the Shade

Don't fret if your garden gets more shade than sun; plenty of plants thrive in the shade. This chart names annuals and perennials that do well in the shade, so keep this list handy and you can decide which plants you want for your shady garden oasis.

Annuals

Perennials

Wax begonia (Begonia semperflorens-cultorum)

Bear's breech (Acanthus mollis)

Amethyst flower (Browallia)

Beebalm (Monarda didyma)

Canterbury bells (Campanula medium)

Bellflower (Campanula portenschlagiana)

Coleus (Coleus spp.)

Bergenia (Bergenia crassifolia)

Impatiens Impatiens spp.)

Bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis)

Lobelia (Lobelia ssp.)

Columbine (Aquilegia)

Monkey flower (Mimulus hybridus)

False spirea (Astilbe)

Forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica)

Globeflower (Trollius)

Flowering tobacco (Nicotiana alata)

Hosta (Hosta)3

Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena)

Lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis)

Scarlet sage (Salvia splendens)

Lungwort (Pulmonaria)

Black-eyed Susan vine (Thunbergia alata)

Meadow-rue (Thalictrum)

Wishbone flower (Torenia fournieri)

Siberian iris (Iris sibirica)

Key Measurement Conversions for Gardening

Surprisingly, a great deal of measuring goes into garden planning. If you need to change between metric and English (U.S. standard) units, use this basic conversion chart to make sense of it all when planning your garden.

Type of Measurement

Metric to English

English to Metric

Distance

1 centimeter = 0.4 inch

1 inch = 2.5 centimeters

1 meter = 39 inches = 1.1 yards

1 yard = 0.9 meter

1 kilometer = 0.6 mile

1 mile = 1.6 kilometers

Volume

1 liter = 1.1 quarts

1 quart = 0.9 liter

Mass/weight

1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds

1 pound = 0.4 kilogram

1 gram = 0.04 ounce

1 ounce = 31 grams

Figuring Out Fertilizers for Your Garden

Fertilizing is an important part of gardening because given at the right time, fertilizers can really give your plants a boost. When you're trying to decide on which fertilizer to use, keep this list handy to make sense of fertilizer terminology:

Incomplete fertilizers: Incomplete fertilizers are missing one or more of the macronutrients, usually the P or the K.

Chelated micronutrients: If your plants don't get nicely green (they remain mottled yellow and green, or just yellow), no matter now much nitrogen you apply, you probably have a deficiency of micronutrients — iron, manganese, or zinc. These fertilizers are in a form that allows a plant to absorb them more quickly than the more commonly available sulfated forms.

Organic fertilizers:Organic means that these fertilizers derive their nutrients from something that was once alive. Examples include blood meal, fish emulsion, and manure.

Slow-release fertilizers: These fertilizers provide nutrients to plants at specific rates under particular conditions. Some slow-release fertilizers can deliver the benefits of their nutrients for as long as eight months.

Foliar fertilizers: Apply this plant food to leaves rather than to the roots (ground). You can use most liquid fertilizers as foliar fertilizers, but make sure the label says you can.